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Genuine PDF Forgeries (Extended Abstract)

Research output: Working paper › peer-review

Abstract

Signed PDF documents have legally binding value.
We introduce a novel class of attack focused on human factors in signature validation; exploiting a disconnect between machine-verifiable signer certificates and human-visible signature badges. We analyze our attack against 24 PDF reader applications across three operating systems and the web.
We find that the majority of eIDAS-validating readers, including Adobe Acrobat Reader, are susceptible. We design countermeasures, and implement one of them into the open source PDF reader Zathura.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationCopenhagen, Denmark
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 4 Jun 2025

Publication series

Name 20th IFIP Summer School on Privacy and Identity Management 2025

Fields of Expertise

  • Information, Communication & Computing

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  • EU - LICORICE - reLIable and sCalable tOols foR self-sovereIgn identity and data proteCtion framEwork

    Tauber, A. (Project manager on research unit)

    1/10/24 → 30/09/27

    Project: Research project

  • A-SIT - Secure Information Technology Center Austria

    Posch, R. (Project manager), Oswald, M. E. (Other function), Payer, U. (Other function), Neuherz, E. (Other function), Ivkovic, M. (Attendee), Tauber, A. (Attendee), Reiter, A. (Attendee), Zefferer, T. (Attendee), Kreuzhuber, S. (Attendee), Rössler, T. (Other function), Mangard, S. (Attendee), Bratko, H. (Other function), Dietrich, K. (Attendee), Stranacher, K. (Attendee), Bonato, M. (Other function), Bauer, W. (Attendee), Orthacker, C. (Attendee), Wolkerstorfer, J. (Attendee), Zwattendorfer, B. (Attendee), Aigner, M. J. (Other function), Scheibelhofer, K. (Other function), Suzic, B. (Attendee), Knall, T. (Other function), Leitold, H. (Coordinator), Bratko, D. (Attendee), Dominikus, S. (Attendee), Lipp, P. (Attendee), Marsalek, A. (Attendee), Reimair, F. (Attendee), Feichtner, J. (Attendee) & Teufl, P. (Attendee)

    21/05/99 → 31/12/24

    Project: Research area

  • 1 Talk at conference or symposium
  • 1 Conference paper

  • Genuine PDF Forgeries

    Heher, J., Pichler, E. & More, S., Dec 2025, (Accepted/In press) IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology: Privacy and Identity Management. Springer Science+Business Media

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference paper › peer-review

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